I've Moved!

I've migrated all of my blogs onto one server, my own server.

Come see me at http://plog.benvess.com and my main site http://www.benvess.com .

See you soon!

Der Sankt

Barrie's Harley

"Barrie and his Harley"

My stepdad has a new nice harley davidson motorcycle. He bought it in michigan..

Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind at Staunton

"Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind."

Today Cece and I decided to go on a little road trip to my old institution. The place where I really grew up. Also, I've been wanting to go by the campus to take some pictures. . .

"VSDB's Acorn"

The "VSDB Drive" road sign is new. However, the acorns has been there since forever. It's something that every student who went to VSDB knows about. A Classic.

"Up towards Main Hall."

The steps leading the way towards Main Hall, the first and most important historical building of the campus. These stairs leads to the school building, Healy Hall, from Main Hall.

"White Columns"

The yearbook staff is called "White Columns" staff. Named after these pillars of Main Hall.

"Main Hall"

The front of Main Hall. The sign is for a time capsule that the students did in 1989. It will not be unearthed until 2014. Students wrote projects, little stuff, and put it in there. Hopefully, they'll all come back and see it unearthed. I'll be there to photograph it. for sure.

"Main Staircase."

There's a grand staircase inside the foyer of the Main Hall, complimenting the staircase you see. In many yearbooks, group photos of classes, organizations, etc are usually taken on these very steps.

"The Main Foyer"

"Columns of Byrd Hall"

Byrd Hall houses the elementary school classes, pre-kindergarten and the offices of the school's principal.

"Bass Hall"

The main entrance of Bass Hall, the girls' dormitory. This dorm is the closest to everything on campus except for the infirmary...It's also the building that has the school's cafeteria.

"Welcome Mat of Healy Hall"

Every single day I would walk on that welcome mat to my classes in middle school and high school. They had it outside the building (i think to let nature clean it up, which is usually the thing they did to clean it up when i was a student there). So, I took a picture.

"The Playground"

On good days, students will play on that playground for hours. I can think of five different games we've played in that little spot on campus...

"More Playground"

The playground buildings and the school building for the blind students. Deaf students almost never go in that building...Jamais.

"The Infirmary"

When you get hurt or sick, you will need to drag yourself to one end of the campus to this building. It's a dreadful place, quite boring..Unless you and your friends all have the flu! That's fun.

"Lewellyn Gym"

The building named after a teacher of VSDB. The founder of the Mason Dixon tournament. VSDB had a rich sports history until the mainstreamed concept came into play. The number of students dwindled...

"The Gym"

I think this building is the first building in American history to be named after a Deaf man. Not sure..

"Football Scoreboard"

After the dramatic dwindle in student body numbers. The football team couldn't be formed anymore and the field was left useless. The poles are currently gone but the scoreboard still stands.

Perhaps, there is still hope.

"The football field"

It's still being tended to. The grass is getting cut, but there aren't any white lines to indicate there is an actively playing field for football games.

"Winter's Final Fight"

I was going to take some more pictures while Cece sat in the car being warm. After a while, I realized that perhaps it would be better to come on a warmer day...

"The 'President's' Home"

It's the first building at the main entrance of the campus. Also, it's the last one you'll see when you leave.

"Downtown!"

The pathway to downtown, the best place to be for a young kid. Full of little cute shops owned by ecentric personalities...I went by an old studio to see a teacher of mine who became an artist and an art teacher...She wasn't there but i left a note..

Happy Easter all!

Der Sankt

Virginia Beach

Cece and I are now in Virginia Beach.

Absolut Lomo and Lomography

"PICTURES: That is what Lomography is all about. Nothing compares to the feeling of visually diving into a pool of shining, new, sweet-smelling lomographs. My pictures, your pictures, pictures of the world, pictures of fleeting moments, secret passions, boring brou-ha, left toes, blurred nothings. Simply everything."
-Lomography.com

Lomo #1

On Monday morning, I wake up to see a package sitting in the middle of the living room with my name on the address. Uhm, I think I've finally gotten the cameras. A while ago, someone from Absolut Vodka sent me an email saying they really liked my photoblog and would like to have me be part of their ad campaign. Their current campaign is "Absolut Lomo" and it's about Lomography. Lomography is a form of photography done with a toy camera (see www.lomography.com). Oddly enough, it's a bit more complicated than a simple toy like its category says...

Lomo #2

I opened the package and felt a bit disappointed. There was a book, I thought perhaps reading it would help me understand a bit better. In the introduction of the book, the author, Adam Scott says: "My love affair began when I discovered the Lomographic Society International. They sold the Holga and I was intrigued by its contradiction in terms of a cheap medium format camera. As I opened the box and took the camera out, I thought I had been ripped off! It was too light and cameras were not meant to be this light. I shot a roll of film while taking a walk in London and there it was, the addiction had begun."

Lomo #3

That was interesting I thought, I kept reading and reading until I finished the whole book. A new world opened before my eyes. This little toy is like the game of poker, easy to learn but hard to master. It can work with any kind of film, medium format, 35mm, or polaroid back. It takes snapshots. The camera can take multi-exposures. Different color flashs. Only two apertures and two shutter speeds. A bit limited in terms of function but after seeing all the lomographs in the book, it was not so limited. It's a complicated little toy I guess.

Lomo #4

Remaining true to my deal with Absolut Vodka and their Lomo campaign, I've devised a photo contest. The grand prize is the Holga Camera Kit from Absolut Lomo. The camera has the Absolut logo on it too. I'm compiling a list of judges and asking them if they would like to particpate. The guidelines are being smoothed out. The contest will be open to all, for all ages. I have a couple of themes I havent decided on, yet. Take your cameras out and prepare for shooting, hahaha. The contest should open by Monday at the latest.

Lomo #5

More lomographs from my Holga to come with the Guidelines. Maybe I'll explain a couple of things with each picture. Or you could also go to www.lomography.com or www.absolut.com/lomo for lomographs done by others all over the world!

Bisous,

Der Sankt